Rockets’ wins are history to Winterhawks

The Portland Winterhawks spent much of the regular season chasing the Kelowna Rockets.

That chase in part fueled a 21-game win streak. But despite winning 28 of their final 29 regular-season games, the Winterhawks finished with the second-best record in the Western Hockey League, five points behind the Rockets — which is why the Western Conference Finals open in Kelowna with games on Friday and Saturday.

The difference was Kelowna winning all four of the regular-season games between the teams.

But those games are ancient history to the Winterhawks, who were missing significant players when the Rockets won in Portland on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.

“You take a little bit from the (regular-season) games, but they were so long ago,” Portland coach Mike Johnston said. “It doesn’t matter how many players we had, it’s just that the makeup of teams change. The strategy that teams employ changes.”

Johnston and his staff are more focused on how Kelowna played in its first two playoff rounds, a 4-1 win over Tri-City and a sweep of Seattle.

“They’re a quick team. They play a similar style to us,” Winterhawks defenseman Derrick Pouliot said. “They’re good on transition and all-around. We’re going to have be very good to beat them.”

In a weekly poll of National Hockey League scouts, Kelowna was the top-ranked team in all of major junior hockey for much of the season. Portland finished ranked third in that poll.

“I think this is the matchup everybody really wants,” Winterhawks goalie Brendan Burke said.

One question to be answered at the start of Game 1 is the health of two key players.

Myles Bell, a 20-year-old winger who led Kelowna with 42 goals and 35 assists for 77 points in the regular season, missed the Rockets’ second-round sweep of Seattle with a lower-body injury. He had three goals and one assist in the first round of the playoffs.

For Portland, Nic Petan had to be helped off the ice after a fight late in the clinching win over Victoria. Petan was a full participant in practice on Tuesday before the team left for Kelowna and said he felt good.

Petan, Pouliot and Brendan Leipsic played in the last three conference finals, all won by Portland. Taylor Leier, Chase De Leo and Josh Hanson will be playing in their third conference final. The Winterhawks won all three of those, adding experience in three WHL finals and last season’s Memorial Cup to their resumes.

“All the playoff experience we have, it’s very valuable,” Pouliot said. “Maybe you get down a game in the series or it’s the third period and you need a couple goals or you need to keep them from scoring, we have a lot of guys on the team who’ve been there before and they know what they need to do in those situations.”

In a change from the first two series, when Vancouver and Victoria tried to use a size advantage to counter Portland’s speed, the conference final features two teams that thrive on the rush.

“We like to play off the rush. So do they. In a lot of ways were similar, but in a lot of ways we’re different,” Leipsic said. “They kind of do it by committee, they have a lot of depth. They don’t really have a first line or a second line. They have three lines that just go.”

The Portland offense will face Kelowna’s 20-year-old goalie Jordon Cooke, who is in his fourth season and second playoff run with the Rockets. He had the league’s second best goals-against average (2.28) in the regular season and has allowed 2.34 goals per game in the playoffs.

Burke has played like a playoff veteran in his first turn as the Winterhawks’ top net minder. His 2.01 playoff goals-against average ranks third in the WHL.

“I don’t feel like I’m out of place playing in the playoffs, or that it’s a brand new experience,” Burke said. “It’s just more hockey.

SERIES SNAPSHOT

NHL draftees

• The Winterhawks have nine players who have been drafted, led by defenseman Matt Dumba who started this season with the Minnesota Wild. Derrick Pouliot (Pittsburgh) and Taylor Leier (Philadelphia), were drafted in 2012. Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus), Nic Petan (Winnipeg), Anton Cederholm (Vancouver) and goalie Brendan Burke (Phoenix) were drafted last year. Defenseman Garrett Harr (Washington) was drafted in 2011.

• The Rockets have five players who have been drafted by NHL teams. Defenseman Damon Severson (New Jersey) was a second-round pick in 2012. Madison Bowey (Washington), Tyrell Goulbourne (Philadelphia), Mitchell Wheaton (Detroit) and Myles Bell (New Jersey) were drafted last summer.

2014 Draft preview

• Portland has four skaters ranked by NHL Central Scouting ahead of this year’s draft: Chase De Leo (36th), Alex Schoenborn (78), Keegan Iverson (85th) and Dominick Turgeon (97th).

• Four Kelowna skaters are ranked by Central Scouting: Justin Kirkland (67th), Riley Stadel (99th), Rourke Chartier (136th) and Tyson Baillie (141st).

Power-play matchups

• Kelowna has the top playoff power play at 14 for 40 through nine games; Portland has allowed eight goals on 40 penalty-kill situations. Portland’s power play is 14 for 57 with two shorthanded goals against in the playoffs; Kelowna’s penalty kill is best in the WHL, having allowed only four goals on 41 times short-handed.

BEST-OF-7 SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Kelowna

Game 2: 7 p.m. Saturday at Kelowna

Games 3-4: 7 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday at Moda Center

Game 5: 7 p.m. Friday, April 25 at Kelowna (if necessary)

Game 6: 2 p.m. Sunday, April 27 at Portland (if necessary)

Game 7: 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 29 at Kelowna (if necessary)

CATCH THE ACTION

In person: Tickets for Games 3 and 4 at the Moda Center are available through www.winterhawks.com.

No TV: At this point, none of the games will be shown in the Portland-Vancouver market.

Viewing parties: Buffalo Wild Wings, 7704 N.E. 5th Ave., in Vancouver is one venue that shows all Winterhawks away playoff games. Kenton Station, 8303 N. Denver Ave., in Portland is close to Vancouver.

Listen in: Play-by-play for all games can be heard on AM 860 or through winterhawks.com.